KR20170036620A - Communication apparatus, control method, and computer-readable storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

A communication apparatus has a communication function of transmitting and receiving wireless signals with the other communication apparatus during a certain time at predetermined intervals and can implement any one of transmission processing and receiving processing of the wireless signal instead of the other apparatus. Whether the apparatus implements the processing as deputy, a frequency in which the communication apparatus is in a state of transmitting and receiving the wireless signal during the time is set.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a communication apparatus, a control method, and a computer readable storage medium,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recognition technique of another communication apparatus in a communication apparatus.

Recently, a wireless LAN represented by the IEEE802.11 standard series is widely used. In a wireless LAN, a base station called an access point (AP) often controls the network. A wireless network is constituted by this AP and a station (STA) which is within the radio wave reach range of the AP and is in a wireless connection state.

In addition to the simple wireless network configuration of the conventional AP and the STA, a variety of wireless LAN network products and specifications are emerging in the market. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0302787 describes a Neighbor Awareness Network (NAN) defined by the Wi-Fi Alliance as a specification for discovering a communication device and the services it provides at low power consumption. This is intended to reduce the power consumption when the communication apparatus shortens the time for validating the radio frequency (RF) unit in synchronization with other communication apparatuses for a period of exchanging information with other communication apparatuses . The synchronization period in such a NAN is called a DW (Discovery Window). A set of NAN devices sharing a predetermined synchronization period is called a NAN cluster. Among NAN devices, terminals each having a master role or a non-master sink (sync) transmit a sink beacon, which is a signal for ensuring synchronization between terminals during the DW period. After establishing synchronization with other terminals, the NAN device transmits a subscribe message, which is a signal for discovering the service, during the DW period, a publish message that is a signal for transmitting notification of the provision of the service, And the like. Furthermore, the NAN device can send and receive follow-up messages to exchange additional information about the service during the DW period. On the other hand, the NAN device enters the DOZE state in which the wireless signal is not received during the DW period, so that the power consumption can be reduced.

The frequency of appearance of the DW period during which the NAN device receives the radio signal depends on the NAN device, but all NAN devices participating in the NAN cluster need to receive the radio signal during a particular DW period called DW0. DW0 is a DW period that occurs once every 16 DW periods. DW0 represents a DW period that starts when the lower 23 bits of the TSF (Time Synchronization Function), which is a counter timer used by the NAN cluster for synchronization, is 0x0. A NAN device operating as a master role or a non-master sink role, respectively, is required to transmit a sink beacon every DW period, so that it can receive radio signals during all DW periods.

If the NAN device is in the DOZE state during the DW period, it can not send and receive subscription messages and publish messages during that period. For this reason, there has been a problem that the service provided by the NAN device that enters the DOZE state frequently during the DW period is prolonged until the other devices discover it.

The present invention provides a technique for shortening the period until a communication device finds another device and a service it provides.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication device comprising: communication means for transmitting and receiving a radio signal to and from another communication device during a period of a predetermined length coming at a predetermined time interval; An execution unit configured to execute at least one of the transmission processing and the reception processing of the radio signal during a period in which the communication unit transmits and receives the radio signal during the period And setting means for setting a frequency at which the communication device enters the state.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus including communication means for communicating service information in a Discovery Window of Neighbor Awareness Networking, execution means for performing processing for proxying service information of another device in the discovery window, Wherein, when the execution means does not execute the process, the frequency with which the communication means is set in a state in which no communication is performed in the discovery window, when the execution means executes the process, And setting means for setting the communication means in the discovery window such that the frequency of setting the communication means is lower than the frequency of setting the communication means in a state in which no communication is performed.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments (given with reference to the accompanying drawings).

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments, features and aspects of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a wireless communication system.
Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the NAN 101. Fig.
Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the NAN 101. Fig.
4 is a flowchart showing a first example of the procedure of the DW setting control process.
5A and 5B are timing diagrams each showing an example of the relationship between the DW period and the signal transmission / reception timing.
Fig. 6 is a sequence diagram showing a first example of a procedure of proxy request processing.
7 is a sequence diagram showing a first example of a procedure of a proxy request stop processing.
8 is a flowchart showing a second example of the procedure of the DW setting control process.
9 is a diagram showing an example of a setting UI for setting the valid / invalid of the proxy function.
10 is a flowchart showing a third example of the procedure of the DW setting control process.
Fig. 11 is a sequence diagram showing a second example of a proxy request processing procedure.
12 is a sequence diagram showing a second example of the procedure of the proxy request stop processing.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the relative arrangement, formulas, and numerical values of the components described in this embodiment do not limit the protection scope of the present invention unless specifically stated otherwise.

In the following description, it is assumed that each communication apparatus is a terminal having a wireless LAN communication function conforming to the IEEE802.11 standard series. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Further, each communication device described below is a NAN device capable of discovering other communication devices and services provided by the Wi-Fi Alliance Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN), but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, in the following explanation, a terminology corresponding to a predetermined standard is used. However, the following discussion can be applied to other similar standards.

The NAN will be described. In the NAN, service information is communicated during a period called the discovery window DW. DW represents the convergence time and channel of a plurality of devices executing NAN. The set of terminals sharing the schedule of DW is referred to as a NAN cluster.

Each terminal in the NAN cluster operates in one of the master, non-master sync and non-master non-sync roles. A terminal operating as a master role transmits a synchronous beacon (sink beacon), which is a beacon for each terminal to identify the DW and synchronize with the DW. In addition, a terminal operating as a master role transmits a discovery beacon, which is a signal for recognizing a NAN cluster, to a terminal not belonging to the NAN cluster. The discovery beacon is transmitted, for example, every 100 TU (Time Unit) (1 TU corresponds to 1024 microseconds) during a period other than the DW period. At this time, at least one terminal in each NAN cluster operates as a master role.

The terminal operating as the non-master sink role transmits the sink beacon without transmitting the discovery beacon. A terminal operating as a non-master non-sink role does not transmit a sink beacon nor a discovery beacon.

According to the sink beacon, the terminals participating in the NAN cluster communicate service information in the DW period in synchronization with the DW period set every predetermined period.

Each terminal communicates a subscription message, which is a signal for discovering a service during the DW period, and a publish message, which is a signal for transmitting a notice of service provision. Furthermore, each terminal may exchange a follow-up message to exchange additional information about the service during the DW period. At this time, the publish, subscribe and follow-up messages are collectively referred to as a service discovery frame (SDF). Each terminal can advertise or detect the service by exchanging the SDF.

As described above, the NAN device can enter the DOZE state in which the wireless signal is not transmitted or received even during the DW period, and the power consumption can be suppressed. On the other hand, the NAN device can not transmit / receive the subscription and publishing messages during the DW period in the DOZE state. Therefore, the period until another NAN device discovers a service provided by the NAN device may become prolonged.

To cope with this, some NAN devices can request other NAN devices to search and notify services of services such as subscription and publishing processes. A NAN device that performs proxy search and notification processing of services of another NAN device is hereinafter referred to as a proxy server. A NAN device that requests another NAN device to act as a surrogate is hereinafter referred to as a surrogate client. When the proxy client requests the proxy server to transmit proxy information of the proxy information of the proxy client, the proxy server transmits proxy information of the proxy client. If the proxy server executes the search and notification processing of the service on behalf of the proxy client, the proxy client can significantly reduce the power consumption by entering the DOZE state for a longer period of time. Even if the NAN device searching for the service provided by the proxy client sends a subscription message while the proxy client is in the DOZE state, the proxy server may return a response. For this reason, the NAN device searching for the service is more likely to discover the service provided by the proxy client, even if the proxy client is in the DOZE state.

However, even if the surrogate client requests the surrogate execution of the search and notification processing of the service, if the surrogate server that received the request frequently enters the DOZE state, the surrogate server performs search and notification processing of the surrogate client I do not want to be reduced. As a result, the time until the NAN device searching for the service discovers the service of the surrogate client can be prolonged.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the NAN device performs the transition control to the DOZE state depending on whether the NAN device is currently acting as the proxy server and performing the proxy execution of search and notification processing of the service of another NAN device. That is, the NAN device that is currently operating as the proxy server performs control to prevent the NAN device itself from transitioning to the DOZE state frequently. The configuration of the wireless communication system and the arrangement of the communication apparatus which are common to each embodiment will be described and thereafter the procedure of the processing according to each embodiment will be described.

(Configuration of wireless communication system)

First, a configuration example of a wireless communication system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. The wireless communication system according to the present embodiment is configured to include NANs 101 to 104, which are communication apparatuses (NAN devices) each conforming to the NAN standard, and NANs 101 to 104 participate in the NAN cluster 105. [ The NAN devices (NAN 101 to 104) participating in the NAN cluster 105 establish a network on the frequency channel 6 (6ch). The NAN cluster 105 is a NAN cluster in which the length of each DW period is 16TU and the time interval from the start timing of the DW period to the start timing of the next DW period is 512TU. The DW period has one period of 16 DW periods DW0 to DW15. And the DW period after the 16 DW periods of DWn (n is an integer from 0 to 15) is also DWn. It is assumed that all NAN devices participating in the NAN cluster 105 receive wireless signals during DW0 without exception.

The NAN 101 is a communication device capable of executing each process described below. The NAN 101 can discover surrounding communication devices and services provided by the NAN 101 based on the NAN standard, and can provide information on services that the NAN 101 can provide. The NAN 101 may operate as a surrogate server capable of performing surrogate search and notification processing of services of other NAN devices. It is assumed that NAN 101 participates in the NAN cluster 105 as a non-master non-sink role. The NAN 101 has a state of receiving radio signals in DW0, DW4, DW8, and DW12 and a state of receiving radio signals in all DW periods. Here, DWn (n = 0, ..., 15) represents a DW period that starts when a period of 512 X n [TU] elapses after the start of DW0 based on DW0. DW16 corresponds to the following DW0.

The NAN 102 is a communication device participating in the NAN cluster 105 as a master role. NAN 102 is receiving radio signals during all DW periods and transmits sink beacons during all DW periods. The NAN 103 is a communication device participating in the NAN cluster 105 as a non-master non-sink role. NAN 103 transmits and receives wireless signals only during DW0 period. The NAN 103 is assumed to be a publisher providing the predetermined service that the NAN 104 is searching. The NAN 104 is a communication device participating in the NAN cluster 105 as a non-master non-sink role. The NAN 104 pretends to be a subscriber searching for a predetermined service provided by the NAN 103. At this time, the NANs 101 to 104 do not supply power to the communication unit and enter the DOZE state during the DW period in which the wireless signal is not transmitted or received.

(Configuration of NAN 101)

2 shows a hardware configuration of the NAN 101 according to the present embodiment. The NAN 101 includes a storage unit 201, a control unit 202, a function unit 203, an input unit 204, an output unit 205, a communication unit 206, and an antenna 207 as an example of its hardware configuration Respectively.

The storage unit 201 is constituted by one or both of a ROM and a RAM and stores various information such as a program for performing various operations (to be described later) and communication parameters for wireless communication. At this time, as the storage unit 201, a memory such as a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, The medium may be used.

The control unit 202 is constituted by a CPU or an MPU and controls the entire NAN 101 by executing a program stored in the storage unit 201. [ At this time, the control unit 202 may control the entire NAN 101 by cooperating with the OS (Operating System) stored in the storage unit 201 with a program.

The control unit 202 controls the function unit 203 to execute predetermined processing such as imaging, printing, and projection. The function unit 203 is hardware in which the NAN 101 is used to execute a predetermined process. For example, in the case where the NAN 101 is a camera, the function unit 203 serves as an image pickup unit and performs image pickup processing. For example, when the NAN 101 is a printer, the function unit 203 serves as a printing unit and performs printing processing. Further, for example, when the NAN 101 is a projector, the function unit 203 serves as a projection unit and performs projection processing. The data processed by the function unit 203 may be data stored in the storage unit 201 or data communicated with another STA via the communication unit 206 (described later).

The input unit 204 accepts various operations from the user. The output unit 205 performs various output operations to the user. The output from the output unit 205 includes at least one of a display on the screen, a sound output from the speaker, and a vibration output. At this time, both of the input unit 204 and the output unit 205 may be implemented as a single module, such as a touch panel.

The communication unit 206 performs control of wireless communication conforming to the IEEE802.11 standard series and control of IP communication. The communication unit 206 controls the antenna 207 to transmit and receive radio signals for wireless communication. The NAN 101 communicates contents such as image data, document data or image data with other communication apparatuses via the communication unit 206. [

3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the NAN 101. As shown in FIG. The NAN 101 includes, for example, a wireless LAN control unit 301, a NAN control unit 302, a proxy control unit 303, a DW setting control unit 304, a UI control unit 305, and a storage unit 306 .

The wireless LAN control unit 301 includes an antenna and a circuit for transmitting and receiving a radio signal with another wireless LAN device, and a program for controlling the antenna and the circuit. The wireless LAN control unit 301 executes communication control of the wireless LAN in accordance with the IEEE802.11 standard series. The NAN controller 302 includes hardware and a program for performing control according to the NAN standard. The proxy control unit 303 controls the NAN control unit 302 to realize a proxy function for performing search and notification processing of services of other NAN devices. The DW setting control unit 304 is a control unit for determining which DW period the NAN 101 transmits / receives a radio signal. Detailed processing of the DW setting control unit 304 will be described later. The UI control unit 305 includes hardware related to a user interface such as a touch panel or button for accepting an operation on the NAN 101 by a user (not shown) of the NAN 101, and a program for controlling the hardware . At this time, the UI control unit 305 also has a function of presenting information such as a display function of an image or the like, or an audio output function to the user. The storage unit 306 is a storage device that can be configured with ROM, RAM, or the like that stores data and programs in which the NAN 101 operates.

(Procedure of processing)

A procedure of a process executed by the NAN 101, a sequence in a wireless communication system, and the like will be described.

≪ Embodiment 1 >

In this embodiment, the NAN 101 determines whether it operates as a proxy server of another communication apparatus (NAN device). When the NAN 101 is operating as a surrogate server for proxy transmission of service information of another communication apparatus, it receives a radio signal during all DW periods. On the other hand, when the NAN 101 is not operating as a proxy server for proxy transmission of service information of another communication apparatus, control is performed to receive the wireless signal only during a part of the DW period. In order to reduce the frequency of entering the DOZE state when the NAN 101 is operating as a surrogate server, another device can quickly recognize the service information of the device that has requested the NAN 101 to transmit surrogate of the service information.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure executed by the DW setting control unit 304 in the NAN 101. Fig. This process is executed when the NAN 101 receives a proxy registration request or a proxy deletion request from another NAN device participating in the NAN cluster 105. [ At this time, the NAN 101 notifies another NAN device that it can operate as a proxy server by transmitting a publish signal. When the NAN 101 has a role of transmitting a beacon signal, it may transmit a beacon including information indicating that the NAN 101 can operate as a proxy server.

When the NAN 101 starts processing, it determines whether or not a proxy registration request has been received from another NAN device (step S401). When the NAN 101 receives a proxy registration request from another NAN device (YES in step S401), the NAN control unit 302 is controlled to receive the wireless signal during all DW periods (step S402). Otherwise (NO in step S401), the NAN control unit 302 is controlled to receive the radio signal during DWn, where n is a multiple of 4, that is, every four DW periods (step S403). In this case, the NAN 101 controls so as not to receive a radio signal during a DW period other than DWn, where n is a multiple of four. Note that NAN 101 controls the reception of no radio signal during a DW period other than DWn, where n is a multiple of four. However, n may be any number.

5A and 5B are timing diagrams schematically showing reception states of radio signals of the NAN 101 in steps S402 and S403, respectively. Fig. 5A shows a state corresponding to the case of step S402 and receiving a radio signal during all DW periods. In this case, the NAN 101 validates the receiving circuit of the wireless LAN control unit 301 during all the DW sections, that is, DW0 to DW15, and receives the wireless signal. Accordingly, it is possible to improve the probability that the NAN 101 can receive a radio signal from another NAN device. In the case of receiving a radio signal, the NAN 101 may respond quickly to the radio signal.

On the other hand, FIG. 5B shows a state in which the wireless signal is received only during DWn corresponding to the case of step S403, where n is a multiple of 4, that is, DW0, DW4, DW8, DW12. In this case, since the NAN 101 does not receive the radio signal in DW1, DW2, DW3, etc., the frequency with which the NAN 101 receives the radio signal during the DW period is reduced, so that the power consumption can be reduced. However, the NAN 101 can not receive the radio signal transmitted from the other NAN device DW1, DW2, DW3, etc., and can not respond quickly to the radio signal.

Next, with reference to Fig. 6, the sequence when the NAN 101 receives the proxy registration request will be described. At this time, at the start of the processing of Fig. 6, the NAN 101 does not receive a proxy transmission request from another NAN device and does not operate as a proxy server. For this reason, the NAN 101 can receive radio signals only during a period of DWn where n is a multiple of 4 according to the flowchart of Fig.

First, the procedure of processing in DW0 will be described. During this DW period, the NAN 102 having the master role of the NAN cluster 105 transmits the sink beacon (step S601). The sync beacon is a frame defined by the NAN standard, and is a signal used by the communication devices participating in the NAN cluster 105 to synchronize with each other. The sink beacon may include time information and information identifying the NAN cluster. The sink beacon is transmitted as a broadcast.

Subsequently, the NAN 103 broadcasts a surrogate registration request in response to the notification processing of the service provided by the other apparatus (step S602). Upon receiving the proxy registration request, the NAN 101 enables its proxy function (step S603). The NAN 101 registers the service information of the NAN 103 included in the proxy registration request as service information to be transmitted. The NAN 101 executes the DW setting control process shown in Fig. 4 (step S604). In this case, the NAN 101 receives the proxy registration request and transitions to a state of receiving the wireless signal during all the DW periods according to the flowchart shown in Fig. The NAN 101 transmits a proxy registration response message to notify the NAN 103 that the proxy registration request has been accepted (step S605). This message is a response signal to the proxy registration request message received in step S602, and may be transmitted before the processing in steps S603 and S604. When the NAN 103 receives the proxy registration response message and confirms that the proxy request has been accepted, the number of periods during which the wireless signal is received can be reduced, and the power consumption can be further reduced.

After the end of DW0, the NAN 104 is started by its own user (not shown) (step S606). The NAN 104 receives the discovery beacon (not shown) from the NAN 102 and participates in the NAN cluster 105.

If a period of 512 TU results after the start timing of DW0, DW1 starts. In DW1, NAN 102 transmits a sink beacon for sending a notification in which the DW period starts (step S607). Upon receipt of the sink beacon, the NAN 104 recognizes that it is the DW period, and transmits a subscription message to discover a predetermined service (step S608). In this embodiment, this subscription message is a message for retrieving the service provided by the NAN 103, and the service is a service that the NAN 103 requests the NAN 101 to perform proxy transmission in step S602.

When the NAN 101 receives a subscription message from the NAN 104, the NAN 101 notifies the NAN 104 that the NAN 103 has the service (step S609) because the NAN 101 has received a proxy request from the NAN 103. FIG. This notification is performed by a predetermined message (for example, a proxy publication message). At this time, the notification transmitted in step S609 includes the identification information of the NAN 103 and the identification information of the service. Accordingly, the NAN 104 can know that the NAN 103 has the service that the NAN is searching. At this time, if the NAN 101 controls to receive the radio signal only during DWn, where n is a multiple of 4, the message can not be received in step S608 during DW1 to DW3. For this reason, the timing at which the NAN 104 finds the service may be delayed. However, since the NAN 101 according to the present embodiment is currently operating in a state in which radio signals are received during all the DWs by the processing shown in Fig. 4, the messages can be received in step S608 during DW1 to DW3 and the like. For this reason, according to the present embodiment, the NAN 104 can quickly find a desired service.

Referring to Fig. 7, a sequence when the NAN 101 receives a surrogate deletion request will be described. At the start of the process shown in Fig. 7, as described with reference to Fig. 6, the NAN 101 receives a request for proxy transmission of the service of the NAN 103 and is currently operating as a proxy server.

During DW0, the NAN 102 transmits a sink beacon by broadcast to notify other devices that it is a DW period (step S701). The NAN 103 transmits a proxy deletion request to the NAN 101 during this DW period (step S702). Upon receiving the proxy deletion request, the NAN 101 stops the operation as the proxy server because there is no other NAN device or service that has requested proxy transmission (step S703). The NAN 101 executes the DW setting control process shown in Fig. 4 (step S704). In this case, since there is no service information to be transmitted, the NAN 101 sets the radio signal to be received only during DWn, where n is a multiple of 4, according to the flowchart of FIG. Thereafter, the NAN 101 transmits a proxy deletion response message message to notify the NAN 103 that the proxy deletion request has been accepted (step S705). This message is a response signal to the proxy deletion request message received in step S702, and may be executed before the processing in steps S703 and S704. At this time, when the proxy deletion request is received, the NAN 101 stops the proxy transmission of the service information of the transmission source of the request. The apparatus for stopping the proxy transmission is not limited to this. For example, the NAN 101 may automatically stop the proxy transmission of the service information when a predetermined period (for example, 10 minutes) elapses after the proxy transmission of the service information is requested. Alternatively, when the NAN 101 can not communicate with the proxy client, which is the supplicant of the proxy transmission of the service information, for a predetermined period (for example, five minutes), the proxy transmission of the service information of the proxy client may be stopped.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the communication apparatus (NAN 101) is allowed to receive radio signals among all the DWs when accepting a proxy request. Thus, the communication device operating as the proxy server can increase the probability of receiving the subscription message from the first device. As a result, since the communication device can proxy the public message on behalf of the second device providing the service, it is possible to improve the probability that another device can quickly discover the service. On the other hand, when the communication apparatus does not accept the proxy request, the communication apparatus can receive the radio signal only in a part of DWs instead of all the DWs, thereby reducing power consumption.

In the present embodiment, when the NAN 101 does not operate as a surrogate server in step S403 of FIG. 4, the NAN 101 can receive a radio signal during DWn, where n is a multiple of four. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, NAN 101 may receive radio signals during DWn where n is a multiple of two. When the NAN 101 is not operating as a proxy server at present, the wireless signal may be received during all DW periods. It is important here that when the NAN 101 is operating as a surrogate server for another NAN device, it is possible for the NAN 101 to receive radio signals during all DW periods. Therefore, when the NAN 101 has sufficient power, it does not need to enter the DOZE state even when it is not operating as a proxy server. Further, even when the NAN 101 is operating as a surrogate server, the wireless signal may be received only during a part of the DW period. For example, when the NAN 101 is currently operating as a surrogate server, the frequency with which the NA 101 can receive the wireless signal during the DW period may be increased as compared with the case where the NAN 101 does not operate as the proxy server. For example, instead of controlling the NAN 101 to receive a radio signal among all the DWs, in step S402, it is controlled to receive a radio signal during DWn which is a multiple of 2 in step S402. In step S403, The wireless signal may be received during the DWn. In this case, since the appearance frequency of the DW period in which the NAN 101 can receive the wireless signal is set to be twice as large as that in the case where the DW setting control is not performed after the proxy request is received, Can be found. According to this, it is possible to suppress the power consumption to some extent when the NAN 101 is operating as a surrogate server, while improving the probability that the NAN 101 can respond to a service discovery request from another device.

During a period when the NAN device participating in the NAN cluster is likely to send a publish or subscribe message, the proxy server may receive the wireless signal. Therefore, when a request for a service is transmitted, the proxy server can receive it and quickly return the response. That is, when a device currently requesting a service transmits a subscription message during the DW period, the proxy server can not receive the wireless signal because it is not receiving the wireless signal, can do. Similarly, a device currently requesting a service can retransmit a subscription message during the next DW, thereby prolonging the time it takes to discover the service, and preventing a situation where wireless resources are wasted by a retransmission message.

≪ Embodiment 2 >

In the present embodiment, the NAN 101 determines the master preference in the NAN cluster in the DW setting control processing. The master preference is a parameter corresponding to the possibility of performing each of the master, non-master sink, and non-master non-sync roles in the NAN cluster. That is, the master preference is a value used for determining a device having a role of transmitting a sink beacon. Devices with larger master preferences become easier to operate in the master role. Hereinafter, differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described.

8 shows an example of a procedure of the DW setting control process according to the present embodiment. Also in this embodiment, the NAN 101 executes this processing when it receives a proxy registration request or a proxy deletion request from another device (NAN device) participating in the NAN cluster 105. [ Steps S801, S802, and S803 are the same as steps S401, S402, and S403, respectively, and therefore, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

When it is determined in step S802 that the NAN 101 is operating as a surrogate server for proxy service of another communication apparatus (YES in step S801), the NAN 101 sets the master preference to 128 (step S803). In the NAN specification, a master preference having a value of 128 or more indicates that the NAN device having the value is a NAN Infrastructure device having an ability to continuously operate as a master role. On the other hand, if it is determined that the NAN 101 does not operate as a proxy server, that is, if it is determined that the service information of another communication apparatus is not transmitted (NO in step S801), the NAN 101 sets the master preference to 64 (step S805 ).

By the processing shown in Fig. 8, when the NAN 101 is operating as a proxy server, it becomes relatively easy for the NAN 101 to operate as a master or non-master sink role. Alternatively, if the NAN 101 is not acting as a surrogate server, it becomes relatively difficult for the NAN 10 to operate as a master or non-master sink role.

When the NAN 101 is operating as a surrogate server, the wireless signal can be received during all the DW periods irrespective of the master preference relationship with surrounding NAN devices. By setting the master preference so that NAN 101 can easily operate as a master role and making it difficult for other NAN devices to act as master roles, the power consumption of other NAN devices is reduced. On the other hand, since the NAN 101 operates as a master role to transmit a sink beacon or a discovery beacon, the power consumption of the NAN 101 itself increases, but the power consumption related to reception is kept unchanged. By the above processing, the power consumption as a whole NAN cluster can be reduced. On the other hand, when the NAN 101 does not operate as a surrogate server, the necessity of receiving a radio signal during many DW periods is reduced. The NAN 101 can reduce its own power consumption by setting the value of the master preference so that the NAN 101 becomes difficult to operate as a master role.

≪ Embodiment 3 >

In this embodiment, the case where the user can set the validity / invalidity of the proxy function of the NAN device of the user is described. The NAN device changes the DW receiving the radio signal according to the valid / invalid setting of the proxy function set by the user. For example, when a user does not operate his or her NAN device as a surrogate server, the power consumption of the NAN device can be reduced. Hereinafter, differences from the above embodiment will be mainly described.

Fig. 9 shows an example of an image displayed on the screen of the NAN 101 by the UI control unit 305. Fig. The user of the NAN 101 can validate or invalidate the surrogate function of the NAN 101 via the UI shown in FIG. The NAN 101 can operate as a surrogate server of another apparatus when the user validates the surrogate function, and if not, the NAN 101 does not operate as a surrogate server of another apparatus.

10 shows an example of a procedure of the DW setting control process according to the present embodiment. This process is executed when the user switches the setting of the surrogate function between the validity and invalidity via the UI. First, the NAN 101 determines whether its proxy function is set to be valid (step S1001). At this time, when the proxy function is set to be valid (YES in step S1001), the NAN 101 performs control to receive a wireless signal during all DW periods (step S1002).

On the other hand, if the proxy function is set to be invalid (NO in step S1001), the NAN 101 determines whether it operates as a proxy server for proxy transmission of service information of another NAN device (step S1003).

When the NAN 101 is operating as a surrogate server for proxy transmission of service information of another NAN device (YES in step S1003), the surrogate deletion message is transmitted (step S1004). At this time, the surrogate deletion message is transmitted in the DW period in which the surrogate client can receive the wireless signal. That is, even if the NAN 101 needs to transmit a surrogate deletion message, the surrogate client waits for the transmission of the surrogate delete message until the next DW period in which the surrogate client can receive the wireless signal. At this time, when the proxy client determines that the proxy deletion message should be transmitted, the NAN 101 may immediately transmit the proxy deletion message in this DW period when the proxy client belongs to the DW period during which the radio signal can be received.

Thereafter, the NAN 101 stops the processing of the proxy server (step S1005) after transmitting the proxy deletion message to all the proxy clients that have requested the NAN 101 to perform proxy transmission of the service information. The NAN 101 performs control to receive a radio signal during a period of DWn where n is a multiple of 4 (step S1006). At this time, if the NAN 101 does not operate as a proxy server for proxy service information of another NAN device (NO in step S1003), the processing of steps S1005 and S1006 is executed without transmitting a proxy deletion message.

Referring to Fig. 11, the sequence when the NAN 101 receives the proxy registration request according to the present embodiment will be described. At this time, at the start of the process shown in FIG. 10, the surrogate function of the NAN 101 is set to be invalid by the user of the NAN 101. Therefore, the NAN 101 can receive the radio signal only during the period of DWn, where n is not a proxy transmission request of service information of another NAN device, and n is a multiple of four.

The processes of steps S1101 and S1102 are the same as the processes of steps S601 and 602 of Fig. 6, respectively. At this time, since the proxy function of the NAN 101 is set to be invalid at this point, the processes of steps S603 to S605 are not executed at all.

Thereafter, the user of the NAN 101 sets the surrogate function of the NAN 101 to be valid via the UI (step S1103). Then, the NAN 101 sets the surrogate function to be valid (step S1104), executes the DW setting control (step S1105), and the NAN 101 receives the radio signal during all the DW periods To enter a state that can.

The processing in step S1106 is the same as step S607 in Fig. During DW1, the NAN 103 retransmits the same message as in step S1102. That is, the NAN 103 retransmits the proxy registration request (step S1107). At this time, the NAN 101 can receive a radio signal during DW1, and the proxy function is in the valid state. For this reason, upon receiving the proxy registration request, the NAN 101 transmits a proxy registration response message (step S1108). As a result, the NAN 101 performs proxy processing of the NAN 103. [ As in step S609 of Fig. 6, when the other device (NAN 104) searches for the service provided by the NAN 103, the NAN 101 may send a response message instead of the NAN 103. [

The sequence when the user has disabled the proxy function of the NAN 101 will be described with reference to FIG. In the following description, it is assumed that the NAN 101 receives a proxy request for the service of the NAN 103 as shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, a case where the surrogate function of the NAN 101 is invalidated during the period of DW15 will be described. It is also assumed that NAN 103 can only receive radio signals during the period of DWO.

During the period of DW15, the user of the NAN 101 invalidates the surrogate function of the NAN 101 (step S1201). During the period of DW15, the NAN 103 can not receive radio signals. For this reason, at this point in time, the NAN 101 does not transmit the surrogate deletion message yet. On the other hand, the NAN 102 transmits a sink beacon by broadcast to notify another device that it is a DW period (step S1202).

During the period of DW15, the NAN 104 transmits a subscription message for discovering a predetermined service provided by the NAN 103 (step S1203). In this case, since the NAN 101 has not yet sent the surrogate delete message to the NAN 103, the NAN 101 continues to operate as the surrogate server. That is, as in step S609 in Fig. 6, the NAN 101 transmits a proxy publishing message (step S1204).

Thereafter, when the DW15 period ends and the next DW period DW0 starts, the NAN 102 transmits a sink beacon (step S1205). During the period of DWO, the NAN 103 can receive the radio signal. Therefore, the NAN 101 transmits a surrogate deletion message during this period (step S1206). This message is a message to notify that the NAN 101 stops the proxy function for the NAN 103. [ After transmitting the proxy deletion message, the NAN 101 stops the operation as the proxy server according to the flowchart shown in Fig. 10 (step S1207), sets only the DWn period in which n is a multiple of 4 do.

In this embodiment, the NAN 101 immediately notifies the NAN client requesting the proxy execution to stop proxying, instead of immediately stopping the proxy server operation when the proxy setting is invalidated. After the notification, the NAN 101 stops its operation as a proxy server. Thus, it is possible to prevent a state in which the NAN client can not know that the NAN 101 has stopped operating as the proxy server. In this case, when the NAN 101 stops the operation of the proxy server, the NAN client can quickly notify the surrounding NAN device of the service it provides by increasing the number of DW periods in which the wireless signal can be received . In addition, the NAN client may request another proxy server to perform surrogate processing as a surrogate server.

In this embodiment, the user is explicitly set to enable / disable the surrogate function of the NAN 101 to control to change the DW period for receiving the radio signal. However, the valid / invalid setting of the surrogate function is not limited to the explicit setting of the user, but can be performed automatically or manually by another method. For example, when power is supplied by a stable power source, the NAN 101 may set the surrogate function to be valid. On the other hand, when power is supplied by an unstable power source, for example, when power is supplied by the battery, the NAN 101 may set the surrogate function to be invalid. If the remaining battery level is higher than the predetermined level, the NAN 101 sets the surrogate function to be valid, and if not, the NAN 101 may set the surrogate to be invalid. When the NAN 101 searches for a neighboring NAN device and there are a plurality of NAN devices whose proxy function is in the valid state, the NAN may set its proxy function to be invalid. In this case, the NAN 101 may set its proxy function to be invalid when the number of the NAN devices whose proxy function is valid is small, or when there is no such NAN device.

<Other Embodiments>

In the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which the NAN 101 operates as a proxy server for proxy response to the notification of the service provided by the NAN 103. [ However, the data to be transmitted by the proxy function is not limited to the information of the service that can be provided. For example, the NAN 101 may receive a service search request from another device and search for the service instead of the device. In this case, for example, the NAN 101 can search for a service by subscribing to a subscription message by another device and receiving a publish message, which is a response to the message. At this time, the NAN 101 may wait for a publishing message transmitted by another device (for example, spontaneously) without transmitting the subscription message. In either case, the NAN 101 can notify the device that has requested to perform the search processing of the service during the DW period during which the device can receive the wireless signal.

In the above-described embodiment, the NAN 101 receives a proxy request from the NAN 103. [ However, the NAN 101 may accept a proxy request from one or more other NAN devices. In this case, for example, in the process of FIG. 4, when the NAN 101 receives surrogate processing from at least one NAN device, the NAN 101 transmits the NAN 101 Can be set. In addition, when the NAN 101 is operating as a surrogate server for one or more other devices, the appearance frequency of the DW period in which the wireless signal can be received may be changed in accordance with the number of the other devices. That is, the NAN 101 may set the number of DW periods that can receive radio signals during the 16 DW periods included in one period. For example, when the NAN 101 operates as a surrogate server for one device, the wireless signal can be received only during a period of DWn where n is a multiple of four. When the NAN 101 operates as a surrogate server for two devices, the wireless signal can be received during a period of DWn where n is a multiple of two.

According to the present invention, it is possible to shorten the period until the communication device discovers another device and a service it provides.

Embodiments of the present invention may be practiced using computer executable programs (e.g., computer readable instructions) recorded on a storage medium (which may be referred to as &quot; non-volatile computer readable storage medium &quot;) for performing one or more functions of the above- (E.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) that reads and executes possible instructions (e.g., one or more programs) and / or performs one or more functions of the above- For example, by reading and executing computer-executable instructions from a storage medium to perform one or more functions of the above-described embodiment (s), such as by a computer of the system or apparatus The computer may comprise one or more central processing units (CPUs), microprocessors (MPUs), or other circuitry, and may be implemented in a network of discrete computers The computer-executable instructions may, for example, be presented to a computer from a network of storage media. The storage medium may comprise, for example, one or more hard disks, a random access memory RAM), read only memory (ROM), a distributed computing system storage, an optical disk (a compact disc (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD), or Blu-ray disc (BD), ^TM, etc.), flash memory device, a memory card, etc. .

The present invention provides a program or a program for realizing one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or an apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and in the computer of the system or apparatus, . It may also be implemented by a circuit (for example, an ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications, equivalent structures and functions.

Claims (16)

A communication device comprising:
Communication means for transmitting and receiving a radio signal with another communication apparatus during a predetermined length of time to arrive at a predetermined time interval;
An execution means for executing at least one of transmission processing and reception processing of the radio signal during the period as an agent of another apparatus;
And setting means for setting a frequency at which the communication device enters the state in which the communication means can transmit and receive the radio signal during the period according to whether or not the execution means executes the process.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the setting means sets the frequency when the execution means executes the process to be higher than the frequency when the execution means does not execute the process.
The method according to claim 1,
When the execution means executes the process, the setting means sets the frequency so that the communication device enters the state in which the communication means can transmit and receive a radio signal during all the periods.
The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising reception means for accepting setting of a user for enabling or disabling the processing by the execution means,
Wherein the setting means sets the frequency when the setting of the user who makes the process by the execution means valid is received by the execution means when the setting of the user for invalidating the process by the execution means is received Wherein the frequency is higher than the frequency.
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein when the setting of the user for invalidating the process by the execution means is accepted and the execution means is executing the process as a substitute for the other device, And transmits a message notifying that the process should be stopped, and the execution means stops execution of the process.
6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the communication means transmits the message during the period during which the other device can receive the radio signal,
And the execution means stops execution of the process after the message is transmitted to the other device.
The method according to claim 1,
And the setting means sets the frequency according to the number of the other devices when the execution means executes the process as an agent of at least one other device.
8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the setting means sets the frequency higher as the number is higher.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the wireless signal includes a signal indicating a service provided by another communication device.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the wireless signal includes a signal for searching for a service provided by another communication device.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the period is a period of a discovery window of Wi-Fi Alliance Neighbor Awareness Networking.
The method according to claim 1,
And determining means for determining a value to be used for determining a device that transmits a beacon during the period according to whether or not the execution means executes the process.
Communication means for transmitting and receiving a radio signal to and from another communication apparatus during a period of a predetermined length coming at a predetermined time interval and communication means for transmitting at least one of the radio signal transmission processing and reception processing The control method comprising the steps of:
And setting a frequency at which the communication device enters the state in which the communication means can transmit and receive the radio signal during the period according to whether or not the execution means executes the process.
Communication means for transmitting and receiving a radio signal to and from another communication apparatus during a period of a predetermined length coming at a predetermined time interval and communication means for transmitting at least one of the radio signal transmission processing and reception processing The program causing the computer to execute the steps of:
And a step of setting a frequency at which the communication device enters the state in which the communication device can transmit and receive the wireless signal during the period according to whether or not the execution device executes the process Computer readable storage medium.
Communication means for communicating service information in a discovery window of Neighbor Awareness Networking;
An execution means for executing a process of proxying service information of another device in the discovery window;
Wherein the frequency with which the communication means is set in a state in which the wireless communication is not performed in the discovery window when the execution means does not execute the process is characterized in that when the execution means executes the processing, And setting means for setting the communication means in the discovery window such that the frequency of setting the communication means is lower than the frequency of setting the communication means in a state in which communication is not performed.
16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein the setting means sets the frequency at which the communication device enters the state in which the communication means can transmit and receive a wireless signal in the discovery window when the execution means executes the process, And sets the frequency of the communication device to be higher than the frequency at which the communication device enters the state where the communication device can transmit and receive a wireless signal in the discovery window.

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